Westminster neighbors cope with the realities of life near 405 Freeway construction

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The area behind Anawood Way is barren of trees after workers removed the plants along Bolsa Chica Road in Westminster, CA, on Thursday, Oct 11, 2018. The tree removal is for the I-405’s 5-year, $1.9 billion improvement project. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)

From a backyard on Buckingham Circle in Westminster, you can see the future of neighborhoods all along Orange County’s slice of the I-405 freeway.

The houses border Bolsa Chica Road’s on/off ramp – one of 18 bridges that will be broadened over the next five years in a massive freeway renovation project. Ultimately, the 16-mile stretch will gain two lanes on each side – a transformation that requires extra lanes on the bridges, as well.

Of course, residents knew that living beside the bridge’s demolition and reconstruction wouldn’t be a bed of roses. Still, they lament, it’s worse than they ever imagined.

The area behind Anawood Way is barren of trees after workers removed the plants along Bolsa Chica Road in Westminster, CA, on Thursday, Oct 11, 2018. The tree removal is for the I-405’s 5-year, $1.9 billion improvement project. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)

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The area behind Anawood Way is barren of trees after workers removed the plants along Bolsa Chica Road in Westminster, CA, on Thursday, Oct 11, 2018. The tree removal is for the I-405’s 5-year, $1.9 billion improvement project. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)

After the removal of a buffer zone of trees, the I-405 freeway bridge is clearly visible from the backyards of houses on Buckingham Circle in Westminster. Residents complain they were not warned that the trees would be cut down as part of the five-year freeway widening project underway. Photo by Susan Christian Goulding

After the removal of a buffer zone of trees, the I-405 freeway bridge is clearly visible from the backyards of houses on Buckingham Circle in Westminster. Residents complain that they were not warned that the trees would be cut down as part of the five-year freeway widening project underway. (Photo by Susan Christian Goulding, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Homeowner Herb North urged city council members at their Oct. 10 meeting to press the Orange County Transportation Authority for relief “so we’re not losing our minds.”

“Traffic noise is building up behind our houses,” North said. “We want to be patient with this expansion, and at the same time we want to feel protected.”

Problems were exacerbated by “the recent deforestation to make way for widening,” North said. In preparation for remodeling the bridge, OCTA removed hundreds of trees that once blocked both the view and the roar of the freeway.

Eventually, the Bolsa Chica bridge will not only be wider, and therefore closer to nearby homes, but also higher. In the short-term, OCTA needs to erect barrier netting to alleviate “the intense amount of dirt and headlights,” North said.

Indeed, after the early October meeting, OCTA agreed to put up green privacy screening. Installation was planned by the week of Oct. 15, but was postponed until the week of Oct. 29.

However, what the residents are really looking for is something permanent – a sound wall on the now barren median. They worry that OCTA, while promising to replace the existing sound wall along the 405, did not pencil in a wall guarding Buckingham Circle.

People on adjacent Anawood Way point out that increased noise and dust travel into their homes, as well.

Representing about two dozen households, residents of the two streets have formed a coalition that meets regularly to organize communication with OCTA and the city.

In letters, emails and phone calls, coalition members say the disappearance of foliage took them by surprise. At night, they say, headlights from passing cars now beam directly into their windows. During the day, construction workers are visible from an incline abutting Buckingham Circle backyards, residents say.

And sometimes, loud construction work continues late into the night.

Noting the grievances he has received, Westminster Mayor Tri Ta concurred that the matter is “really urgent.”

City traffic engineer Adolfo Ozaeta followed up, telling the audience at the Oct. 10 meeting, before hearing from residents, that his staff had not been aware of late-night work near the homes. He added that the city reopened a conversation with OCTA about extending the sound wall southward.

For Westminster, the issue is particularly acute. The city claims two-thirds of the bridges that will be demolished and rebuilt over the next half-decade.

Apparently, OCTA’s recent dialogue with the city has produced some results – or, at least, clarifications. Agency spokesman Eric Carpenter said in an interview that trees removed for grading of the land “will be replaced by a mix of larger and smaller trees.”

Also, OCTA has taken to heart the voices of residents “concerned that they didn’t get enough notification about the clearing of trees and vegetation,” Carpenter said. “We are committed to refining and improving ongoing communications efforts as the project moves forward.”

The construction contract allows for around-the-clock work to minimize traffic impacts and stay on schedule, Carpenter said. But after talking with city officials and community members, “we are working with the contractor to have them perform as much work as possible during the day,” he said.

Ozaeta said in an interview that productive talks with OCTA are underway. For instance, he said, “OCTA has made it a condition that the contractor only do work in that backyard area during the day.”

One challenge for cities affected by the freeway overhaul, from Costa Mesa to Seal Beach, is that the project is “design-build” – a method that gives contractor OC 405 Partners flexibility to tweak its game plan as it goes along.

Design-build construction projects are less expensive than projects with engraved-in-stone blueprints and schedules. But they can leave cities wondering what might change and when.

Already, in the midst of demolition last month, the Slater Avenue bridge in Fountain Valley went from a two-stage to one-stage undertaking. At first, it was going to be dismantled and rebuilt one side at a time to permit continuous use – but OCTA, with the city’s OK, switched course.

“OCTA evaluated the detour routes, which have the capacity to handle the volume of traffic,” Carpenter said. “Completing the bridge in one stage is expected to take approximately 12 months rather than 18 months or more for two stages.”

Although he supports the greater efficiency of design-build, the approach does keep Westminster on its toes, said Councilman Sergio Contreras.

“I try to stay on top of everything,” he said, “but even I don’t always know what they’re doing next.”

The good news for Westminster is that it has been proactive from Day One, meeting constantly with OCTA since the widening project first surfaced 14 years ago. Over the course of time, the city negotiated funding for waterline, sidewalk and traffic signal improvements.

“No other agency in the corridor is as familiar with the project,” Ozaeta said. “We are by far the most savvy – and our understanding of the process will benefit all cities involved.”

After majoring in journalism at the University of Texas, Susan Christian Goulding got her start as a copy editor and reporter at the (late, great) Los Angeles Herald Examiner. She then worked at the (late, great) Santa Monica Outlook and the Daily Breeze as a features editor, writer and columnist. She moved to the Orange County bureau of the Los Angeles Times as a features and business writer. After that five-year stint, she worked as a correspondent for People magazine and a regular freelancer for Readers Digest while raising her two kids, Erin and Matt. During this time, she also wrote a weekly column for the Daily Breeze. Next, she gave up all possibility of free time and earned a teaching credential and masters at UCI. She taught English for four often rewarding and always challenging years in Compton, then at LMU and El Camino College. Missing journalism, Goulding circled back to her original career last year, joining the Orange County Register as a reporter. She also enjoys her return to column writing for the newspaper's OC Home magazine.